Complete Newbie, Looking for Recommendations

[D3MON]

Ahh thanks for the clarification on the mega. Edited my post for clarification.

As far as nimh battery runtime, I guess I maybe didn't ask that very clear either.

So if I put the same nimh battery in the brushed Granite Voltage vs the brushless Granite BLX, I was thinking that should get a bit more runtime? Some of the stuff I've ready suggest the brushless are more efficient and increase runtimes?

it really depends, given that i think the voltage is a 20t motor, (more turns=less speed/more torque/less draw, less turns = more speed/less torque/more draw.) the voltage i believe would get better run time vs a brushed Granite Mega 4x4.
Voltage vs a brushless granite i believe it would either be very similar run time, or the BL will have more.
brushless is very much more efficient than brushed, and comparing a similar turn Brushless vs a similar turn Brushed the brushless will have dramatically increased run times. but given in your question that the brushed motor is a higher turn, i really can't say for sure which will last longer.

 

[jlvhawk3]

it really depends, given that i think the voltage is a 20t motor, (more turns=less speed/more torque/less draw, less turns = more speed/less torque/more draw.) the voltage i believe would get better run time vs a brushed Granite Mega 4x4.
Voltage vs a brushless granite i believe it would either be very similar run time, or the BL will have more.
brushless is very much more efficient than brushed, and comparing a similar turn Brushless vs a similar turn Brushed the brushless will have dramatically increased run times. but given in your question that the brushed motor is a higher turn, i really can't say for sure which will last longer.

Your explanation helps a lot! Appreciate it!

Thinking some of the other drive components of the Granite BLX are designed "stronger" and might hold up better under "just" a nimh when they're designed for lipo?

 

[D3MON]

Your explanation helps a lot! Appreciate it!

Thinking some of the other drive components of the Granite BLX are designed "stronger" and might hold up better under "just" a nimh when they're designed for lipo?

For the most part yes. LiPo generally speaking have a lot more power discharge consistency, compared to nimh. That said again though, voltage is power, if you have a nimh 8.4v it's going to have more power (peak) than a 7.4 (2cell) lipo. But the lipo will carry that voltage through more consistently where that 8.4v nimh my drop down to for example 6v when under lots of load.

 

[Laurent James]

You can try Losi 8ight?

 

[jlvhawk3]

So I jumped in more than I originally expected, but looking forward to seeing what my son thinks!

I purchased the Arrma Granite 3s BLX, a 7.2v 5000mah and a 8.4v 5000mah nimh battery, with ec3 to ec5 adapters, and a Venom Pro 3 charger. Anything I'm missing? We'll see how this goes first before we move to lipo.

 

[D3MON]

So I jumped in more than I originally expected, but looking forward to seeing what my son thinks!

I purchased the Arrma Granite 3s BLX, a 7.2v 5000mah and a 8.4v 5000mah nimh battery, with ec3 to ec5 adapters, and a Venom Pro 3 charger. Anything I'm missing? We'll see how this goes first before we move to lipo.

Eventually are going to want some good tools, personally I like dynamite, they are machined not stamped hexes, some shock oil (I think they come with 35wt stock, so of get some 40wt or 50wt) and diff grease/oil, mostly just maintenance stuff.
Definitely check out the Arrmaforum.com as well. Has lots of info on these trucks and iirc login for for this forum work on there as well.

 

[jlvhawk3]

Truck came today! Just did a brief bit of messing around. I'm going to have to turn the throttle rate and limit way down for my son, even on nimh. But I sure am going to have fun! Might have gone overboard! ?

One thing I wondered about... Is this "grinding" and whistling noise normal under low throttle? Seems to go away when it gets to a bit more of a steady speed.

Also, a couple times while driving it around, the throttle either slowed way down or quit altogether. I was driving it around for 10 minutes tops, and intermittently at that, and had done a discharge and charge cycle on the 5000mah battery that showed it charged like 4900+mah. ESC, motor, battery were all still almost cool to the touch, barely even warm. And if I turned the car off and back on, it would immediately go back to normal again. I'm fairly certain I have the ESC correctly set for nimh battery. Anything else I might be missing?

 

[D3MON]

Truck came today! Just did a brief bit of messing around. I'm going to have to turn the throttle rate and limit way down for my son, even on nimh. But I sure am going to have fun! Might have gone overboard! ?

One thing I wondered about... Is this "grinding" and whistling noise normal under low throttle? Seems to go away when it gets to a bit more of a steady speed.

Also, a couple times while driving it around, the throttle either slowed way down or quit altogether. I was driving it around for 10 minutes tops, and intermittently at that, and had done a discharge and charge cycle on the 5000mah battery that showed it charged like 4900+mah. ESC, motor, battery were all still almost cool to the touch, barely even warm. And if I turned the car off and back on, it would immediately go back to normal again. I'm fairly certain I have the ESC correctly set for nimh battery. Anything else I might be missing?

grats on the truck!!! that grinding noise is cogging which is semi normal, (would recommend looking this up to familiarize yourself with it.) more or less the motor is catching between the 2 magnets on the can of the motor as it doesn't have the torque with the battery voltage given (throttle position).
that really sounds liek it is hitting LVC to me. might try setting to NiMh again just to make sure.

 

[jonUF02]

I'm also looking to get a truck for my 3.5 year old daughter to play along. Anything brushless is out of the question, way too fast. The brushed granite 4x4 is in my list, but I would still limit the throttle or change pinion in that. Little kids are going to be full throttle all the time, straight into a tree. Actually I think I will get a crawler, because they are slow as the name implies. Probably the TRX-4 Sport kit version so I can paint the body purple and pink for her. Toy grade is a waste, they WILL break, and no parts available.

I have the Traxxas radio system with Bluetooth link on my Arrma 4s Outcast right now, the app link makes it really simple to set training mode to limit throttle to any percentage you choose. At 10-20% its pretty darn slow.

 

[CaptainGrumpus]

Truck came today! Just did a brief bit of messing around. I'm going to have to turn the throttle rate and limit way down for my son, even on nimh. But I sure am going to have fun! Might have gone overboard! ?

One thing I wondered about... Is this "grinding" and whistling noise normal under low throttle? Seems to go away when it gets to a bit more of a steady speed.

Also, a couple times while driving it around, the throttle either slowed way down or quit altogether. I was driving it around for 10 minutes tops, and intermittently at that, and had done a discharge and charge cycle on the 5000mah battery that showed it charged like 4900+mah. ESC, motor, battery were all still almost cool to the touch, barely even warm. And if I turned the car off and back on, it would immediately go back to normal again. I'm fairly certain I have the ESC correctly set for nimh battery. Anything else I might be missing?

Did you ever get this figured out? I had the same issue with a Venom 8.4v but with a 7.2v Venom it runs perfectly fine.
When I ran the 8.4v, the truck would slow waaay down and then stop and the ESC would blink red.

 

[The RC Car]

Hey guys,
I am a complete newbie to RC cars really. My experience really amounts to cheap RC cars bought from Walmart/Target/etc. for my 4 year old son (mostly, can't say I didn't also want them, ha!). We've had fun with these, but frankly, they haven't lasted too long or been very capable. My son is asking for a new RC car for Christmas, and I'm thinking of buying something of better quality this time around. I've spent a couple days reading on here and trying to figure things out, but I'm still a bit overwhelmed.

Here's a bit what I'm looking for...

Budget: ~$100-150 - I'd like to stay in this range, but could maybe stretch to $200 max if I absolutely need to in order to meet our use.

Type/Style/Use: My son is really wanting something he can take offroad. The cheap ones we've had, even if they are an "offroad" model, really only work on pavement or inside. He would really like to be able to take it outside and drive through the lawn or landscaping river rock or mulch, maybe even some muddy areas. Seems like 4WD would be best or is this maybe not as important as I would think?

I've read a lot about RCs that you build and can be customized with aftermarket parts and stuff, but at this point, I think I'm looking more for just something that will work well and be decently reliable/durable out of the box. Maybe someday in the future as he gets older, we'll look in to something with more customization.

Thanks for any help and direction you can provide me. I really appreciate all advice!

I'd look for a used 4x4 Losi 1/10 scale SCT, this should be within your budget, and SCTs are loads of fun! They also have aluminum shocks and driveshafts, which you will thank God for.